It's funny: old-school hip-hop sounds fresher and fresher these days, its skeletal breaks and raw production a bracing change from the slick sounds of the ubiquitous Puffy and his crew.
Eric and Parrish Making Dollars (EPMD) released this debut in 1988; it immediately established the duo as a serious force in East Coast hip-hop. Eric Sermon's lisp and mealy-mouthed delivery is cleverly distinctive, and Parrish Smith's laconic, deadpan raps influenced all future gangsta rappers (for good or ill). Their offhand style of rapping belies their substantial skills - the pair has a knack for clever, memorable rhymes that have held up beyond all expectations.
This being 1988, the lyrical content is little more than boasting, a style De La Soul would later mock as the "I'm the Greatest MC in the World" syndrome in their 1993 single "Ego Trippin". But this is like attacking the blues for its perennial themes of walking shoes, trains and crossroads; boasting is Old School's Rosetta Stone, and the variations of bragging and pointed insults are endlessly inventive and frequently hilarious.
One of the best DJ's of the 80's, K La Boss is in the background on this release. His quicksilver scratching is heavily featured on EPMD's later albums, but even here his cutting style adds fiery syncopation to EPMD's high octane brew. Using James Brown and George Clinton beats as a baseline and punctuated with Stax/Volt horns, these boys know their way around a groove.
The title track introduces Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff" to Long Island gunplay, "I'm Housing" has a relentless rock steady beat, and "It's My Thing" slaps a wah-wah bass over mellow vibraphone. The whole album has a potent party vibe and consistent flow, but the crown is undoubtedly "You Gots To Chill": a jackhammer electrofunky beat, distorted vocal chorus, and stuttered twisted scratching with darkly authoritative rapping, this is one of the best singles of the era - alone worth the price of admission.
- Jared O'Connor
electrofunky old-school